Legato Capital Management LLC Takes Position in CNO Financial Group, Inc. $CNO

Legato Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 13,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $584,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CNO. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 90.1% during the 3rd quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in CNO Financial Group by 353.0% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in CNO Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in CNO Financial Group by 123.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in CNO Financial Group by 39.2% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. 95.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on CNO shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Evercore reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CNO Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at CNO Financial Group

In other news, insider Scott L. Goldberg sold 11,060 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.97, for a total transaction of $442,068.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 214,524 shares in the company, valued at $8,574,524.28. The trade was a 4.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CNO Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:CNO opened at $47.08 on Wednesday. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.24 and a 12 month high of $47.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.91 and a beta of 0.82.

CNO Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. This is an increase from CNO Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. CNO Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 27.31%.

About CNO Financial Group

CNO Financial Group is an Indiana‐based holding company that offers a range of insurance and retirement solutions through its operating subsidiaries. Its primary business activities include life insurance, annuities, and supplemental health insurance products designed to help individuals plan for retirement and manage health‐related expenses. The company serves middle‐income Americans, with particular emphasis on senior customers seeking guaranteed coverage and reliable income streams.

Originally founded as Conseco in 1979, the company underwent a financial restructuring and rebranded as CNO Financial Group in 2010.